Wikimedia Foundation highlights

Expanding fundraising and affiliation models

After the resolutions of the Wikimedia Board of Trustees at its meeting in Berlin, work is ongoing to implement a new model for distributing the money raised via Wikimedia project sites. Except the costs for the core operations and operating reserves of the WMF, all of it (including funds for chapters and non-core operations of the WMF) will be distributed based on the recommendations of the new volunteer-driven Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC). Another resolution of the Board recognizes new models of affiliation with the Wikimedia movement: "Movement Partners" (like-minded organizations that actively support the movement's work), "National or Sub-national Chapters" (which includes the existing chapter model), "Thematic Organizations" (non-profits representing the movement and using the Wikimedia trademarks, which are supporting work focused on a specific topic), and "User Groups" (open membership groups which may or may not choose to incorporate).

Indic language outreach

Chief Global Development Officer Barry Newstead visited India meeting Wikimedians in Bangalore and attending Wikisangamotsavam, the Malayalam community conference, as part of work to support Indic language projects. The India team is working actively with seven Indic language communities on outreach, social media strategy and initiatives to build community momentum.

Page views to the Wikipedia mobile site (red: non-English versions) compared to the 2 billion target from the annual plan

Video of the monthly Wikimedia Foundation metrics and activities meeting covering the month of April (May 3, 2012)

Other movement highlights

"Wikipedian in Residence" model comes of age

The British Library recently became the latest cultural institution to announce (together with Wikimedia UK) a Wikipedian in Residence, supporting connections between the British Library's staff and the Wikimedia community. At the prestigious 2012 American Association of Museums conference, five Wikipedians in Residence from around the world presented this collaboration model. The April issue of the "This Month in GLAM" newsletter reports open Wikipedian in Residence positions at state institutions in Israel, Germany and Sweden.

The very first screenshot of Wikidata

Wikidata starts working on interwiki links

During its first month, the Wikidata team has started coding for the first phase of the project, which will allow the central storage of interwiki links. Two MediaWiki extensions are being developed as the base for Wikidata: Wikibase Client and Wikibase core. A demo version will be available soon.

Tamil media contest

Database company donates free access to Wikimedians

Over 600 Wikimedians have received free access to the HighBeam Research database for one year, to support their work on Wikipedia and its sister projects. Active editors can still apply at the project's application page.